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No. 6l2,266. Patented flct. ll, I898.

' W. B. OBRIEN.

PROTECTIVE SEAL FOR BOTTLES.

3% iii (Application filed Sept. 8, 1897.)

(No Model.)

Symon I 01 fig azm ,6, JM

WA; aHmA w/L UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

WALTER BERNARD OBRIEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CLARA G. D. OBRIEN, OF SAME PLACE.

PROTECTIVE SEAL FOR BOTTLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 612,266, dated October 11, 1898.

Application filed September 8, 1897. Serial No. 651,006. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VALTER BERNARD OBRIEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Protective Seals for. Bottles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for protecting under a fixed seal the contents of a bottle or similar vessel as a guarantee of the genuineness of said contents and as a protection against fraudulent imitations of the same.

The invention consists, essentially, in a disk-shaped seal or cap connected with the upper rim of the bottle by means of a frangible ligament of sufficient length to permit the insertion of a compressed cork between the rim of the bottle and the elevated seal or cap. The seal or cap, being preferably of equal or larger dimensions than the orifice of the bottle, is designed to cover the cork when after being released or compressed it has become fixed in the neck of the bottle and to secure the cork against removal by any ordinary means other than by breaking the seal or the frangible ligament, and thereby destroying the protective character of the bottle and renderin g it useless, except as an ordinary bottle.

' In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a bottle having a head and neck portion constructed with a frangible ligament supporting an elevated seal'or cap over the mouth of the bottle and between which and the rim or bottle-mouth the compressed cork may be inserted; and Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation of the same,showing the cork inserted and expanded within the mouth of the bottle below the cap or seal.

The bottle A in the form shown is formed or provided with a neck a and rim or head a, and over the latter is an elevated seal or cap 5 B, which is supported by means of a frangible ligament b, projecting from the rim of the bottle, so as to provide sufficient space be tween the cap or seal and rim or bottle-mouth for the insertion of a compressed cork O, which when inserted will expand and close the mouth of the bottle, so as to prevent access to the contents thereof or emptying and refilling of the same without breaking the seal.

In order that the insertion of the cork may be effected without breaking the frangible ligament, the cork is first soaked in water until it is easily compressible to half its ordinary size, and it is then inserted by means of a spe- 6o cial machine made for the purpose, such machine having the means of compression for the cork, together with fixtures to hold the bottle and protect the frangible ligament until after the cork has been inserted and forced downward into position.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

The combination in a bottle or similar ves- 7o sel of an elevated sealing disk or cap attached thereto or connected therewith by a single frangible ligament of a predetermined length in such manner as to form an aperture between the rim of the bottle and the seal or cap for the insertion of a compressed cork into the orifice of the bottle, substantially as described.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 7th day of September, A. D. 1897.

lVALTER BERNARD OBRIEN.

WVitnesses:

ELI A. RACE, LEWIS B. H. ADAMS. 

